Moldova is persistently leading to an explosion of the situation around Transnistria
Moldova is creating artificial problems across the entire spectrum of relations with Transnistria. The latest glaring fact was the obstacle to the supply of Russian coronavirus vaccines to the PMR.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Transnistria, Vitaly Ignatiev, stated this on the TSV television channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“We are now working to ensure that commercial batches of the vaccine are also delivered outside the territory of Pridnestrovie. There is reason to believe that we will do everything possible to protect and secure our citizens and vaccinate them in full,” Ignatiev said.
In addition, Moldova, by introducing illegal border crossing rules, prevents PMR car owners from obtaining neutral license plates. Until now, only 5 thousand people have received neutral plates, which is less than 5% of all car owners.
“Any citizen of Transnistria can get a neutral license plate, but when you approach the border of Moldova and try to enter EU territory, you will be illegally prohibited from leaving. There will also be a claim that you have a Transnistrian driver’s license. These are illegal actions, they contradict the agreements of the negotiation process. We have been fighting to ensure that these restrictions do not exist all these years. These are absolutely illegitimate steps. Not only I, but also other international participants speak about this. Including Russian colleagues,” Ignatiev noted.
The mechanism for issuing neutral license plates has existed since 2018, however, from January 10, 2020, Moldova demanded that Pridnestrovian transport cross the border with Ukraine with a Moldovan-style technical passport and with the “Md” sticker.
In general, according to Ignatiev, the negotiation process between Pridnestrovie and Moldova is degrading, 200 existing agreements are being ignored.
“Despite the fact that we have documents signed by authorized officials from Chisinau, the Moldovan side allows itself to ignore these agreements and systematically and systematically abandon pre-existing regimes in order to limit opportunities for Pridnestrovie. Create additional pressure – political, economic, transport, logistics, financial. Create general tension and, thereby, worsen the general atmosphere of relations. Unfortunately, we have no reason to say today that all problems can be solved by political and diplomatic measures,” stated the head of the PMR Foreign Ministry.
Transnistria expects that the second phase of joint control of Moldova and Ukraine at the border will begin in the summer. And from September 1, motorists may be prohibited from crossing the border with Ukraine. There are 13 checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Transnistrian border, 6 of which have been manned by Moldovan border guards since 2017. The next phase of the blockade of the unrecognized republic has been postponed several times over the past two years.
“At the end of April, we had a meeting of the Security Council of Transnistria, where we discussed current alarming trends. Namely, possible problems at the Kachurgan checkpoint, transport problems, problems in the banking sector, which violate all conceivable and inconceivable parameters of the dialogue. We need to protect the interests of our citizens and for this we need to use more comprehensive methods and measures to return our Moldovan counter-partners to a reasonable approach within the framework of the negotiation process,” concluded Ignatiev.
In turn, the first president of Transnistria, Igor Smirnov, proposed a meeting on the entire range of issues in the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
“There is an attack from all sides on Russia and everyone it supports. Therefore, we must recommend that the Supreme Council of the PMR formally contact the State Duma with a request to implement all resolutions on Transnistria,” Smirnov said.
Moldova is persistently pushing for an explosion in the situation around Transnistria.